The
Unfair Roadblock:The
federal welfare law imposes a lifetime ban on anyone convicted of a drug-related
felony from receiving federally funded food stamps and cash assistance
(Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF). This law prohibits
receipt of benefits – for the rest of their lives – even by
those individuals who have completed their sentence, overcome an addiction,
been gainfully employed but were subsequently laid off, or earned a certificate
of rehabilitation or other form of clemency. Denying them food, clothing,
and shelter makes it much more difficult for them to support themselves
as they leave the criminal justice system and reenter society, and much
more likely that they will return to criminal activity and drug use instead
of attaining sobriety and gainful employment.

How
to Remove the Roadblock:The
federal law does give states the option of passing legislation to limit
the ban or eliminate it altogether. Given the importance of food stamps
and public assistance to individuals leaving prison or jail – enabling
them to sustain themselves and their families and obtain needed drug treatment
and other essential services – states should “opt out”
of, or eliminate, the ban completely, or at least modify it to ensure
that those who “do the right thing” can receive life-sustaining
benefits.

This
tool kit provides materials that advocates can use to seek passage of
state laws to “opt out” of or modify the lifetime ban on food
stamps and TANF for people with drug-felony convictions.

The
federal 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation
Act dramatically changed the American welfare system. Under this law,
anyone convicted of a federal or state felony for conduct occurring after
August 22, 1996 involving the possession, use, or distribution of drugs
is permanently ineligible to receive food stamps or TANF. Although the
law allows states to decide not to adopt the ban, unless and until a state
adopts specific legislation opting out from or modifying it, people with
drug felony convictions are barred for life from receiving food stamps
and cash.

While
a number of states have already eliminated or limited the federal ban,
many others have not. Those states that have retained the TANF and food
stamp ban suffer the ill effects of counterproductive public policies
that fail to address effectively the basic sustenance, housing, addiction,
and other needs of people with felony drug convictions who are seeking
to reintegrate into their communities. Denying food stamps and cash benefits
to these individuals makes it much more difficult for them to support
themselves as they leave the criminal justice system and reenter society,
and much more likely that they will return to criminal activity and drug
use instead of attaining sobriety and gainful employment.

States
that eliminate or modify the bans on food stamps and TANF for individuals
with drug felony convictions will benefit in a number of ways. Many individuals
with criminal records have difficulty obtaining work, either because they
lack the skills and education to qualify for a job, or because many employers
have policies against hiring individuals with prior convictions. Public
assistance and food stamps provide them with necessary survival assistance
as they look for employment. By helping them lead more stable lives, public
assistance and food stamps also can help reduce recidivism.

Public
assistance and food stamps also ensure the continued availability of alcohol
and drug treatment programs to those who need them in order to successfully
reenter society. Alcohol and drug treatment programs, particularly residential
programs, have historically relied on funding from a client’s public
assistance and food stamps to pay for room and board. Without these funds,
programs may face decisions about whether to reduce services, decrease
the intensity of services to continue to serve the same size caseload,
or close altogether. Programs that provide mental health and other services
also can suffer if these funds are not available.

Because of the important role that food stamps and public assistance play in the lives of individuals with prior criminal convictions, a majority of states have eliminated or modified the lifetime ban on food stamps and TANF for people with drug felony convictions:

Ten states have adopted the federal ban as to food stamps, 11 as to TANF without modification. Those states permanently deny benefits, even if the underlying crime occurred years before and regardless of an individual’s successful job history, participation in drug and alcohol treatment, leading a law-abiding life, abstinence from drug use, or other evidence of rehabilitation.

The majority of states have limited the ban in some way to enable those with drug felony convictions to receiving food stamps and cash assistance if they meet certain conditions, such as participating in alcohol or drug treatment, having a “possession only" conviction, passing a drug test, or waiting a certain period of time. To view a summary of the modifications
of the federal ban in these states, follow this link.

Fifteen states and D.C. have eliminated the ban entirely as to food stamps and 13 as to TANF.

A detailed description of each state’s laws concerning the application of the federal ban on TANF and food stamp benefits can be found in the Legal Action Center’s report, After Prison: Roadblocks to
Reentry.

State SNAP Options - Drug Felony Ban

State TANF Options - Drug Felony Ban

As of November 2011 Ban on Food Stamps for Individuals with Drug Felonies

If
your state has kept the federal lifetime ban on food stamps and TANF for
people with drug felony convictions without any modification or with insufficient
limitations, you can advocate for its complete elimination by having the
state “opt out” of the ban completely. As noted above, 15
states already have done so.

Or
you can advocate for your state to enact one or more of the following
limitations that have been adopted in other states:

Condition
eligibility for public assistance on an individual’s participation
in a drug and alcohol treatment program, successful completion of his
or her sentence, or compliance with probation or parole.

Of
the twenty-four states limiting the scope of the federal ban, a great majority
condition eligibility for TANF and food stamps on the individual’s
enrollment in or successful completion of a drug and alcohol treatment
program. Some also allow receipt of benefits if the individual successfully
completes his or her sentence or complies with the conditions of probation.

If
you are not successful in convincing your state to adopt these more sweeping
limitations, you could seek a series of lesser modifications such as:

Limit
eligibility for public assistance to those individuals convicted of
drug posession.

Limit
the ineligibility of individuals with a conviction record to a fixed
period of time from the date of conviction or from the date of release
from incarceration, such as one year.

Exempt
individuals with disabilities, dependents, etc. from the ban

Massachusetts
provides exemptions from the ban to the disabled, those who must care
for a disabled child or spouse, those who are in their third trimester
of pregnancy, have children of record under two years of age, or any other
child under three months old, caretakers of children to whom they have
no legal obligation (provided, however, only the child will receive cash
assistance), or those who are under twenty-one years of age and are attending
high school full-time.

Condition
benefits on passing a drug test.

Provide
food stamps without limitation.

Illinois,
for example, denies cash assistance for individuals convicted of drug
sale or certain forms of drug possession but does not have a ban on food
stamp eligibility.

The
Maine
and Ohio
statutes are good examples of laws that “opt out” of the federal
ban on people with drug felony convictions receiving food stamps or TANF.
They specifically reference the federal law as required by that law, but
they avoid raising any “red flags” by not including any potentially
controversial language such as “people with drug felony convictions
are eligible to receive benefits.” States wishing to eliminate the
federal ban should use similar language.

Model
Modification Laws

For
states that are not willing to completely opt out of the lifetime ban,
the Legal Action Center has drafted a model law that exempts from the
ban all those who are participating in or have completed drug or alcohol
treatment, or are complying with the terms of their probation, or are
otherwise taking action toward rehabilitation. Click
here
to see this Model Law.

To
see the full text of the state laws on which LAC based its model law click
on Colorado
or Connecticut.

ACTION
ALERT

If
you are advocating for your state to adopt legislation to eliminate or
modify the federal lifetime ban on food stamps and TANF, alerting grass
roots allies and supporters and asking them to contact their legislators
to support the legislation is an effective way to bring about change.
Click
here
for a model Action Alert you can shape for your specific needs and use
to seek grass roots support.

SAMPLE
LETTER

Click
here for a model Sample Letter you can send along with the
Action Alert to help your grass roots supporters write to their elected
officials urging them to support legislation to eliminate or modify the
federal lifetime ban on food stamps and TANF. Once again you can shape
this Sample Letter to meet your specific needs.